This Trip in Photos

The Famous Pike's Place Fish Market

I can't say fish is my favorite food of all time. But when a 10-pound mackerel flies above your head and into the able hands of an employee in waders, it's at least got to make the top 5.

Seattle is home to Pike's Place Market, a fun fishery where the employees perform a skillful game of catch every time someone buys seafood. It is a must-see in the city, and Gail and I got a chance to see the action firsthand (see video).

Let the Rhythm Take You Over, Bailamos

There's an old, standard Enrique Iglesias song I love that goes something like this: "Bailamos, let the rhythm take you over bailamos, te quiero, hasta morir." Essentially: "Let's dance, let the rhythm take you over, let's dance, I want you until I die."

Certain parts of that song don't directly reflect Gail and my feelings toward The Dance or the gentlemen who dance with us. The first part, however, does.

Seizing at the opportunity to hang out with Justin, who usually knows what he's doing when it comes to salsa, we spent our Thursday in Seattle dancing until our feet ached. The event wasn't without its snags -- one of Gail's partners smelled so bad she had to excuse herself from the floor. One of my partners was a bit borracho and had the embarassing habit of whistling really loud whenever I did a turn.

Overall, though, it was muy divertido and we're getting a little better each time we go out. The video of Gail in action is proof.

The Space Needle and other Seattle Sites

Our Missions Conference adventure commenced with a way-too-early flight from LAX and the shuttle services of Claire and Cheryl. When we finally got to Seattle, we realized -- WOW. It's COLD up here!

The cold, however, hasn't kept us from heating things up in the city of Microsoft, the Space Needle, and grunge music. With our amicable tour guide Justin (Gail's friend since freshman year and a Biola alum), we've checked out some fabulous lookout spots -- such as this spot in Queen Anne's next to the Space Needle, where there were some very excitable tourists (pictured below) attempting to pull a Mary-Poppinsesque stunt in the windy conditions.

The city is full of quaint Victorian neighborhoods and lots of money, so there are some beautiful houses out here. Justin took us on a roundabout drive circling Lake Washington, showed us more of downtown than we can keep track of, and related innumerable facts about the city's infrastructure. We're nominating him for city council in 2010, or at least the convention and visitor's bureau.

The picture below is us enjoying brunch at a cheery breakfast place that served delicious omelets with enough peppers and onions to make us wish -- for the rest of the day -- that we had some gum. It was fabulous.

More pictures and video of our day is to come as Gail and I explore the town

Better Together

Five reasons we're better together:
1. I need Gail to remind me when the light's turned from red to green.
2. Gail needs me to help locate misplaced cell phones.
3. It takes two to mess with the radio dial in my car enough that the volume actually goes down.
4. Work is not work when Gail's with me -- whether that be Chimes or an urban planning conference.
5. No social situation is ever awkward when we're both there.

Pictured: Gail and I at Chimes hangout night, Gondola Pizza, La Mirada, Calif.

Signature Wednesdays

Wednesday nights in The Chimes' office exemplify the nature of our friendship and may be proof that we were both made to be journalists.

Michelle and I have a lot in common. We both love reading news, signing off on finished Chimes pages and copy editing with red pens. After four years of journalism classes and multiple internships, we have something to prove. Every good journalist is an opportunist at heart and takes advantage of opportunities that may have slipped through the cracks otherwise. An example of this is our shared initiative in recruiting (luring) athletes into the office for a (very vague) picture for The Chimes. Yes, a picture with us. Let me assure you that it was not a coincidence that they were all the top male athletes in the school. Another quality a future editor should have is that of delegation, something we've perfected in letting the sports editor figure out how to tell the guys why they had to come into the office at 11:00 Wednesday night, why they took such cas pics with two girls and why the picture wasn't on the front page of the section.

Anything to lighten up the long Wednesday nights that quickly fade to early Thursday mornings. When I didn't have a car fall semester, Wednesday nights would end with a lazily triumphant drive back to our Decadox house. This semester, we've kept up the tradition, this time in different cars: Michelle in the maroon Taurus (soon to be Audi A6) and me in the Party Bus (woot!). Before that, however, I have been known to be intimately acquainted with The Chimes' couch while I'm waiting for the last pages of the paper to be put to bed. Pictured here is Michelle hard at work, while I snooze on the brown couch someone stole from the SUB.

As many similarities that we share, there are a few things that distinctly set us apart.

Michelle's insistence in walking out of the upper SUB door and and walking around the building in the bitter morning cold instead of going out of the lower SUB door hints at her one-of-a-kind directional helplessness.

Couches and drool-marked pillows, on the other hand, are my signature, defiant declaration that I'm cool enough to sleep anywhere.

There is no doubt that Wednesday nights are a highlight for us and will always be savored as some of the best times we've had yet.

Beauty Queen, Check

Michelle now has one more thing to check off her list of accomplishments -- being in a beauty pageant.

Michelle was one of the three girls in our house to compete in Miss Fullerton 2009. They even got the rules changed so they could get in.

Amanda, Michelle and Jessica were all so, so so, beautiful and knocked the competition out of the water with their superior piano performances and eloquent interviews.

I'm so proud of Michelle! It was so fun to see her pick out her outfits, do her morning sit-ups and practice the probing interview questions -- nearly all 1,000 of them. Michelle's eveningwear was of particular note, as everyone agreed with our friend Dirk that she looked like a Disney princess.

There's just no way I'd ever be in a pageant, so props to Rindels here for having the guts to stick it out with all the pressure. Enjoy the scholarship money, beautiful. You earned it.

Love always, Gail.

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas from Gail and Michelle!

Walk this way, baby.

You'd never guess it by our shoes, but Michelle and I both love to hike. Saturday afternoon, Michelle's brother, Matt, and our friend, Chris Shawl, took us on a hike through a beautiful Northern California riverbed. It was fittingly chilly, but we got rowdy to keep warm.

After about 3 minutes of trying different positions to navigate the passageway, Michelle wasn't taking any chances with the glass-like water and Chris came to her rescue. He was really quite compassionate, while I just stood there and laughed at her.

Dogs vs. Cats

Apart from seeing her family for Thanksgiving, Michelle was probably most elated to be reunited with her cats.


It has been a running joke since junior year that I'm the cat hater and Michelle, of course, is the lover.

Pavlov would be proud of me. Everytime I want to put Michelle in a good mood, I show her the most ridiculously sappy picture of a cat I can find and wait to hear her effusive coos and praises of the feline specie. Good grief and Lord have mercy. The problem is that Michelle's obsession is getting worse. She was in heaven when Michael Farr got her a notebook with cats on the front AND a cat plaque for Christmas. She and Jessica, our housemate, will get together and swap cat pictures and stories, as well as fill each other in on who else is a fellow cat enthusiast. Michelle even convinced the features editor for our campus newspaper to do an entire page about the cats on campus.

I on the other hand, am more inclined toward the consistently happy, loyal dogs--usually the bigger ones because the little ones are too much like cats. They're smart, they protect you and they can play fetch! I got to romp with a neighbor dog at Michelle's grandparents' place, so I guess we were both happy. Me with my dog and Michelle with her cat. To each her own. But the debate continues.